GALLERY

Tommy

The Trench

The Cemetery

Additional Filming Images

The Poster

Sketches

Credits

Props

Still from the Film	Still from the Film	Still from the Film
Tommy - The Armature A very early photo of Tommy, not long after I've built the armature (which I purchased from Animation Supplies - Link below) and added blue foam to build the head and flesh out some of the joints.	Tommy - The Armature A very early photo of Tommy, not long after I've built the armature (which I purchased from Animation Supplies - Link below) and added blue foam to build the head and flesh out some of the joints.	Tommy - Cotton Wrapped Hands In the early stages, I tried silk cotton wrapped around wire for Tommy's hands. As you can see, the results not only looked bad, but they didn't animate very well either.
Tommy - Cotton Wrapped Hands In the early stages, I tried silk cotton wrapped around wire for Tommy's hands. As you can see, the results not only looked bad, but they didn't animate very well either.	Early, blurry headshot	Early shot of Tommy's bags
Early headshot	Tommy - Blue Foam Hands I had to trial many different types of hands for Tommy to find the perfect pair for working with. The blue ones weren't used in the final build of the Tommy puppet.	Tommy - Blue Foam Hands I had to trial many different types of hands for Tommy to find the perfect pair for working with. The blue ones weren't used in the final build of the Tommy puppet.
Dressing Tommy in his new Putties I went through many variations of putties for Tommy until I found some ribbon that looked good enough for the film	Tommy's new putties I went through many variations of putties for Tommy until I found some ribbon that looked good enough for the film	Testing magnetic tie-downs
Testing magnetic tie-downs	Testing magnetic tie-downs	Tommy on set Tommy on the set of the opening scene of, A War to End No Wars
Tommy with his new rifle Tommy with his homemade Lee Enfield rifle (SMLE)	Tommy with his new rifle Tommy with his homemade Lee Enfield rifle (SMLE)	Ready for action!
Prepping in the trench	Reading a letter from his sweetheart	Reading a letter from his Sweetheart
Sat in the cold	Sat in the cold	Sat in the cold
Sat in the cold	About to go over the top Setting Tommy's body up before he goes over the top in the penultimate scene of the film	Tommy on set
Walking out into No-Man's Land	Walking out into No-Man's Land	Tommy in the Somme Tommy, as we now know him, standing in front of a CWGC grave in Dantzig Alley Cemetery, Somme, France.
Tommy Collage	Tommy	Relaxing with a Woodbine

Early trench completion	Rats Alley	Alternative shot of Rat's Alley
Close-Up of trench	Duck Boards	Bernadette exploring the trench!
Ready to dust the snow	Dusting the snow in the trench	Snow dusting and atmospheric light
Setting the lighting up	Lighting reference	Getting ready to shoot

Making CWGC Headstones The outline was drawn onto foam board and then carefully cut out using a scalpel	Cut CWGC Headstones	Sketching the headstone details
inking the headstone details	Inking the headstone details	Inking the headstone details
Inked headstone	Partially inked headstone	Inked headstone
Inked headstone	Inked headstone	Completed headstone for Captain May Captain May, is my war hero who died on the first day of the Somme offensive in July 1916. He is buried in Dantzig Alley Cemetery, France.
Completed headstones	Constructing the Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is seen in any CWGC Cemetery with over 40 graves. It was designed by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield to represent the faith of the majority. I added this to my very small cemetery model as, to me, it is part of the experience walking round the many CWGC cemeteries.	Making the bronze sword Making the bronze sword from foam to mount to the Cross of Sacrifice.
Painting the bronze sword	Mounted sword Mounted to the Cross of Sacrifice, with green residue detail on the cross	Cross of Sacrifice Mounted to the Cross of Sacrifice, with green residue detail on the cross
Cross of Sacrifice Mounted to the Cross of Sacrifice, with green residue detail on the cross	Mapping out the cemetery design A sheet of hardboard was used as the base of the cemetery	Mapping out the cemetery design A sheet of hardboard was used as the base of the cemetery
Mapping out the cemetery design A sheet of hardboard was used as the base of the cemetery	Mapping out the cemetery design A sheet of hardboard was used as the base of the cemetery	Cutting out the cemetery design
Adding grass to the cemetery A roll of model makers static grass was used to turf the cemetery	Adding grass to the cemetery A roll of model makers static grass was used to turf the cemetery	Adding mud to the cemetery A mix of brown emulsion paint, PVA glue, compost and small broken twigs was used to add mud to the borders and graves of the cemetery.
Creating the Entrance Columns	Creating the top of the columns	Entrance Column
Completed Entrance Columns	Entrance Columns in place	Marking out the place of the graves
Making Remembrance Crosses Made from small pieces of wood	Remembrance Day Crosses Made from small pieces of wood, with card detail for the poppies.	Adding mud to the cemetery
Adding mud to the cemetery	Adding headstones to the mud	Holding headstones in place
Headstones in place	Headstone in place	Some completed headstones
Adding flower and cross detail	Adding flower and cross detail	Flower and cross detail
Cemetery wall construction	Cemetery wall construction	Cemetery wall construction
Cemetery wall construction	Cemetery Register	Cemetery Register mounted on column
Reference for gate	Simplified gate design	Simplified gate design
Simplified gate painted	Completed gates ready for install	Gates installed in cemetery
The cemetery	The cemetery	Headstones and Cross in place
The cemetery	Headstones in place	The cemetery
The cemetery	Painting the background	A bit messy!
Finished scene ready to film	Final scene ready to film

Tommy's Tin Helmet The helmet was made from paper mache moulded and dried over an inflated water balloon; once dry the helmet had another water balloon stretched over the top and was painted with acrylics.	Fitting Tommy's Helmet	Tommy's SMLE Rifle Tommy's Lee Enfield was made from thick card, which I cut to shape, covered in plaster and rubbed down once it was fully set. The rifle was then painted with acrylics. The strap is made from ribbon and the buckles are from painted bent paperclips.
Tommy's Tin Cup Made from card, paper mache and painted with acrylic	Tommy's Tin Cup	Aged photo of Tommy From the souvenir sequence
Tin mug prior to ageing From the souvenir sequence	The tools to age the mug	Post ageing
The Souvenir Shot

Building the Photographers Studio I built a wooden frame and attached animation tie-down flooring	Making the wooden flooring Card painted with acrylics for the photographers studio floor	Wooden Flooring Painted flooring completed
Marking out the wooden panels	Marking out the wooden panels	Both card sheets completed
Attaching the card to the stage	Attaching the card to the stage	Background for photo in studio A quick background image for Tommy to pose against in the Photographers studio - This was acrylic on canvas
Background for photo in studio	Background for photo in studio	Background for photo in studio
Background for photo in studio	Background for photo in studio	Setting up the studio
Setting up the studio	Ready for filming	Light test
Watercolour & Pastel Background This was used in the trench scene where Tommy goes over the top. The whole scene was filmed green screen (Chromakey) and I keyed in this background in post production	Background for close-up	Making the rotation stage Apologies to my cats for destroying their scratching post to enable me to crate this stage!
Tommy ready for 360 shot Tommy's feet tied down ready for the 360 degree shot of him	Tommy with rifle	Tommy with rifle
Ready to shoot 360	Ready to shoot - Light test	Action!
Animating Tommy	Making No-Man's land Stage	No Man's Land Stage
Compost+Paint+Glue = No-Man's Land	No-Man's Land	No_Man's Land
No-Man's Land	Ready to Shoot - No-Man's Land	Shooting - No-Man's Land
Background Test

Poster Sketch & Ink	Inked Poster	Fully Inked
Adding the Colour	Colour	Adding the Colour
Finished	Close-up - Finished	COMPLETED
Ready for Posters The Poster was inked with artists pens and coloured with Prisma Colour pencils